Could I Have This Kiss Forever?
by twouble
Summary: Lily&James' first date. Oneshot. JPLE, obviously... um, yeah, R&R :


James Potter glanced in the mirror and made a half hearted attempt to flatten his hair. Dumbledore had decided that this year Hogwarts would take on a Triwizard Tournament tradition; the Yule Ball. James was probably the only boy in his year to be happy about this, but he didn't care, everyone had needed a date for the ball, and James had been the first to secure one, much to everyone's surprise.

He had marched straight up to Lily Evans, the love of his life, taken her hand almost gentlemanly and asked her outright, did she want to go to the ball with him. He had nearly fallen down a flight of stairs when she had said yes.

He had been asking Lily out since fourth year, and she had always declined, she had made it no secret that she thought James to be arrogant and self obsessed, and that she had no desire to be friends with him, let alone date him. But now, now she would be going to the ball with him, there were no questions asked, and he hadn't had to beg or persuade her, she had just said yes, just like that.

So here he stood, fully kitted out in his dress robes, feeling more nervous that he had ever done in his life. He just hoped he could remember how to dance.

His roommates walked in, Remus looked unusually smart, a smile fixed to his scarred face, he sat on the end of James' bed and watched him with the air of a proud father on his son's wedding day. Peter, the smallest, still managed to look untidy, although it was obvious to James that Remus had attempted to smarten him up a bit. Sirius, easily the tallest, was wearing black dress robes, and whistled when he entered the room. "Don't you look dashing, Prong? Lily flower will be impressed."

"Shut up, Padfoot." James told him, and cursed his hair. "Why won't it lie flat?"

"Because it never does." Sirius said, unhelpfully. James glared at him. He was effortlessly handsome and his hair fell into place perfectly, with no persuasion on Sirius' part. Even if his date weren't madly in love with him, she wouldn't be able to find any fault with him, whilst James was sure Lily would criticise his hair, it was always going to be a bone of contention between them.

"Relax James, Lily will be distracted by dancing and good food and good music and won't even notice your hair."

"If Prongs doesn't step on her feet, that is!"

"Sirius." Remus sighed. "You're not helping."

"I'm not trying to." Even James laughed. He straightened his bowtie and followed his friends out of the dormitory. As the girl Remus was taking was in Ravenclaw, and Peter was taking a Hufflepuff, they had all arranged to meet the girls downstairs, and made their way down to the entrance hall together, James scarcely remembered to put one foot in front of the other and almost got caught by three trick steps on the way down, he leaned against a wall when they reached their destination, Sirius stood beside him and someone appeared with a camera.

"Gryffindor's golden boys! Smile for the camera!" Peter and Remus stepped aside and Sirius clapped an arm around James' shoulders while they posed, which was just as well because his knees gave out seconds after the picture had been taken, Lily had arrived. And she looked beautiful. He tried to speak but no sound came out, Sirius gently steered him towards Lily and he took her hand, still unable to speak.

"James, I'm impressed… you look…." She paused. James bit his lip. Everyone around him seemed to have stopped breathing. It was no secret that James Potter was in love with Lily Evans, the castle had given a silent cheer when she had agreed to come to the ball with him. For now, at least, the corridors wouldn't ring out with the sound of hexes being thrown at James, Lily's way of turning him down. Lily smiled. James melted. "You look, surprisingly gorgeous." James stared at her, still unable to speak. A ball of parchment hit him in the back of the head and he turned to see its source. Sirius looked at him impatiently and whispered.

"_Say something you idiot!"_ James nodded and turned back to Lily.

"Well you, um, you look… wow…. I mean, you look amazing, beautiful. Not that you don't look beautiful anyway." He could hear Sirius, Remus and Peter laughing behind him. It was out of character for James to be quite so speechless, but then again, it was out of character for Lily to agree to go on a date with him. He held out his hand nervously, wondering if she would take it. She did.

"Come on then, take me for a dance." Dance. Fear flashed across James' eyes. He _had_ forgotten how to dance.

Lily tugged him towards the dance floor and he took her in his arms gently, he concentrated on moving his feet and she seemed to take the lead. Sirius gave him the thumbs up as he walked in with his own date, Remus flashed him a reassuring smile and Peter nodded to James' feet, a signal that they were doing what they were supposed to be.

As the night wore on many couples began to vacate the dance floor, in favour of sitting with drinks, watching and talking. Or, in some cases, James noted when his eyes fell briefly on Sirius; snogging. He laughed when Professor McGonagall rapped his best friend on the back of the head as she past. Lily didn't chastise him, merely smiled and snuggled further into his arms. She had no intention of retiring any time soon, for this James was thankful because with each song her body seemed to become closer than his, her head was now resting on his shoulder and her arms were around his back. "Lily…" He whispered. He had barely spoken all night, which, he thought, was possibly why they had been getting on so well.

"Mm?"

"Are you… having a good time?"

"I'm having a great time James. She leaned up and pecked his cheek before returning her head to his shoulder.

"Right…good, that's good." He held her closer, he was aware of eyes on them and noticed that they were one of the only couples still on the dance floor. Their constant arguments, and the fact that they were head boy and girl, meant that almost every student in the school knew their names. He sighed happily, not caring about their audience. Lily Evans was actually in his arms, right here, with him, letting him hold her, dancing with him for the whole school to see. He half expected to wake up and find Sirius, Remus and Peter standing above his bed, laughing heartily. He pinched himself, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Ow."

"What?"

"Nothing… I'm fine." Remus had obviously seen what he had done because he was looking in his direction, laughing heartily. The band who were singing stopped for a few seconds, Lily removed her arms from James' back and slipped them around his neck so she could turn to hear the lead singer announce that the next song would be the last.

"Lady's choice." He added, smiling as the final song started up. Many boys were being dragged back to the dance floor by girls who had chosen them, and were insisting they didn't have a choice in the matter. James looked at Lily.

"Don't worry, you're my choice." She smiled at him and he beamed back. No one was more surprised than he was when she leaned forward to kiss him. Their lips met and he pulled her closer. They broke apart some time later, how long they had been kissing was anyone's guess, but the music had ended and all eyes were on them, yet again. James leaned forward to capture Lily's lips again and heard the familiar voice of his best friend calling out over the crowd.

"About bloody time Prongs!" This yell was followed by another. "Ow Professor!" If James' mouth hadn't been thoroughly occupied he would have laughed, McGonagall had hit Sirius yet again. But James was in a world that was his own, just him and Lily. Nothing could break him away from her, he'd kiss her forever, always, he wasn't even sure he'd bother coming up for breath.


End file.
